Saint John is making it easier for trucking companies to get an exemption for spring weight restrictions.
Trucks can only haul 80 per cent of their usual mass on many streets during the spring weight restriction period.
The restriction, which is usually in place for several weeks each year, is meant to reduce damage to roads at a time when the soil underneath is less stable.
Up until now, companies had to go through a lengthy approval process, including two council votes, to get a temporary exemption.
But council recently approved a new process that will allow the city’s One-Stop Development Shop to issue a permit.
“The permitting process would reduce the time and resources required to consider and provide approval, which would be a benefit to the City, trucking companies, and the companies receiving goods,” said a staff report to council.
Companies must pay a $300 application fee and undertake several steps to ensure impacts on city streets are mitigated.
That includes providing details of when and where the heavy vehicle will operate, developing a traffic management plan, and taking responsibility for infrastructure damage.
City staff said permits will only be issued in cases where the goods being carried cannot be reduced in size, such as a truck carrying a large piece of equipment or a truck-mounted crane.
“Reducing loads involving soils or rocks are good examples of situations where the load can be reduced and a permit not issued,” said the staff report.
“These permits are intended to be issued as the exception, as opposed to the norm, because, albeit measures are taken, each case still presents risks to premature infrastructure damage and deterioration not identified as being caused by the specific heavy vehicle.”
Staff noted that they have received at least seven inquiries within the past five years, with exemptions being issued in two cases.
Common roads in the city used by trucks, like ones leading to industrial parks and designated truck routes, are already exempt from weight restrictions.
